In the drilling of wells into the earth by rotary drilling techniques, a drill bit is attached to a drill string, lowered into a well, and rotated in contact with the earth; thereby breaking and fracturing the earth and forming a wellbore thereinto. A drilling fluid is circulated down the drill string and through nozzles provided in the drill bit to the bottom of the wellbore and thence upward through the annular space formed between the drill string and the wall of the wellbore. The drilling fluid serves many purposes including cooling the bit, supplying hydrostatic pressure upon the formations penetrated by the wellbore to prevent fluids existing under pressure therein from flowing into the wellbore, reducing torque and drag between the drill string and the wellbore, maintaining the stability of open hole (uncased) intervals, and sealing pores and openings penetrated by the bit. A most important function is hole cleaning (carrying capacity), i.e. the removal of drill solids (cuttings) beneath the bit, and the transport of this material to the surface through the wellbore annulus.
Reduced bit life, slow penetration rate, bottom hole fill up during trips, stuck pipe, and lost circulation, can result when drill solids are inefficiently removed in the drilling of vertical boreholes. The efficiency of cuttings removal and transport becomes even more critical in drilling the deviated or inclined wellbore, particularly when the inclination is greater than 60 degrees, because as cuttings settle along the lower side of the wellbore, this accumulation results in the formation of a cutting bed. If the drill pipe lies on the low side of an open hole interval (positive eccentricity), drill solids concentrate in the constricted space and conditions susceptible to differential sticking of the pipe can also occur. Hole cleaning can also be a problem under conditions where the drill string is in tension and intervals of negative eccentricity result as the drill string is pulled to the high side of the annulus. In the latter situation, the drill string is not usually n direct contact with the cuttings bed, but the latter's presence can lead to incidents of stuck pipe when circulation is stopped to pull out of the hole.
Various methods have been proposed for improving the efficiency of cuttings removal from the wellbore, including, promoting the formation of a particular flow regime throughout the annulus, altering the rheology of the entire drilling fluid volume, increasing the annular velocity, rotating pipe, and combinations thereof. In the case of the inclined wellbore, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,246,975 and 4,428,441 to Dellinger, teach the use of eccentric drill string members to stir up the cuttings bed, thus aiding cuttings removal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,124 to Savins teaches that hole cleaning efficiency is increased by increasing the yield point to plastic viscosity ratio of the drilling fluid while maintaining the plastic viscosity constant. U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,012 to Savins teaches the injection of shear thickening fluid ahead of the drilling fluid to increase cuttings transport efficiency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,193 to Gravley teaches the incorporation of one or more fluid nozzles in the drill string for directing a portion of the drilling fluid circulating in the drill string outwardly into the annulus of the wellbore about the drill string so as to effect a stirring action on the drill cuttings and improve their removal by the return flow of the drilling fluid.